UGF Reports

Cotton Campaign urges further reform For Immediate Release Washington, D.C.—April 4, 2019—Systemic forced labor persisted in Uzbekistan’s 2018 cotton harvest despite a meaningful government reform effort, according to evidence documented in a new report by the Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights (UGF), “They said we wouldn’t have to pick and…

The international human rights organization, Solidarity Center, based on the research conducted by the Uzbek-German Forum on Human Rights (UGF) has published a report on wide use of forced labor of teachers, doctors, nurses, and other public sector employees in Uzbekistan. This report is based on interviews with public employees…

Human Rights News

By Catherine Putz If the ultimate goal is the eradication of all forced labor in Uzbekistan, Tashkent hasn’t yet achieved it. While most observers concede progress on this front, and welcome greater openness on the part of Uzbek authorities in discussing the cotton industry, the reality remains that some people…

In the last few years, the government of Uzbekistan has undertaken reforms aimed at ending forced labor in its cotton industry, some of which have resulted in a significant reduction of the number of citizens forced into the fields. However, the root structural problems of the system which continue to…

Alisher Ilkhamov, a well-known Uzbek expert, sociologist and Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, commented on the issue of the boycott of Uzbek cotton: Recently, the government of Uzbekistan, represented by Deputy Prime Minister Tanzila Narbayeva, Minister of Employment and Labor Relations Sherzod…

Cotton Harvest Monitoring

Human Rights Defenders

A criminal case has been brought against Malokhat Eshonkulova, an independent Tashkent-based human rights defender, by the investigative department of the Jizzakh regional police based on a statement by Alisher Abduganiyev, the hokim of the Zaamin district. On June 3, 2019, a post on the website of the Department of…

On May 10, police raided the home of 55-year-old journalist and poet Mahmud Rajabov in the Gurlan district of the Khorezm region. Rajabov told Uzbek-German Forum (UGF) that seven or eight police officers searched his home for two hours and confiscated his laptop, smartphone, CDs, DVDs and books including “History…

Jizzakh human rights activist Uktam Pardayev is seriously concerned for his own safety and the safety of his family. On February 24, Pardayev told Uzbek-German Forum (UGF) that over the past week, he and his family members have been under surveillance. This follows the ongoing court case brought against him…

Videos

Farmer Haydarali Islomov from the Kuyichirchik district in the Tashkent region, told human rights activists that despite a land lease agreement, his land was unexpectedly transferred in March this year to a local cluster for the cultivation of cotton. On May 19, Islomov told human rights defenders Yelena Urlaeva and…

In December 2018, Jiizzakh-based human rights activist, Uktam Pardayev, found that the city authorities had file a claim against him in a civil court. The claim, signed by the mayor of Jizzakh city, Akbar Shukurov, alleged that Uktam Pardayev had illegally built a fence around his private property, and thus…